OMV’s drilling ops with Transocean rig lead to new gas discovery offshore Norway

OMV Norge, a Norwegian subsidiary of Austria-headquartered oil and gas player OMV, has made a new gas discovery in a wildcat well off the coast of Norway with a semi-submersible rig owned by Transocean, an offshore drilling contractor.

OMV, as the operator of the production license (PL) 1194, has completed the drilling of the wildcat well 6605/6-1 S in the Norwegian Sea, targeting the Haydn/Monn exploration prospects, which led to a gas discovery with estimated recoverable volumes between 30 and 140 million barrels of oil equivalent (boe). The well was drilled with the Transocean Norge rig, the first semi-submersible rig that secured the Abate (Power+) notation for greenhouse gas abatement.

The rig secured a 17-well contract in Norway at day rates between $350,000 and $430,000 after two oil and gas companies, Wintershall Dea and OMV, entered into an exclusive partnership with Transocean in September 2022 for the use of this rig for the drilling of all firm and additional potential wells in the period 2023 to 2027.

Located 300 km west of the Norwegian mainland at a water depth of 1,064 meters, the gas discovery lies approximately 65 kilometers from the existing infrastructure of the Polarled pipeline and the Aasta Hansteen field. OMV is the operator of PL 1194 with a 40% working interest while its partners are Vår Energi (30%) and Inpex Idemitsu Norge (30%).
 
Berislav Gašo, OMV’s Executive Vice President of Energy, commented: “By focusing on gas as a transition fuel, OMV invests in affordable energy solutions and contributes to a more sustainable energy mix. We aim to increase the share of gas in our production portfolio to 60 percent by 2030. A commercial discovery will further advance our diversification, while high grading our portfolio in Norway. Ultimately, today’s news further solidifies our position as a reliable gas supplier in Europe.“

Furthermore, the license partners will further evaluate the discovery to determine whether a potential gas field development to the nearby infrastructure is on the cards. OMV believes that a subsea development to the Aasta Hansteen host platform will result in faster planning and execution, resulting in lower development costs and a reduced carbon footprint.

The Norwegian Offshore Directorate (NOD) explains that this well is the first to be drilled in production license 1194, awarded in the awards in predefined areas (APA) in 2022. The preliminary estimates place the size of the discovery in the primary exploration target between 4 and 12 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent.

While discoveries were also made on two other levels, the size of the volumes is perceived to be uncertain. The primary exploration target for the well was to prove petroleum in Upper Cretaceous reservoir rocks in the Springar Formation, and secondarily in the Nise Formation, also in the Upper Cretaceous.

The well 6605/6-1 S was not formation-tested, but extensive data acquisition and sampling were carried out. Moreover, the well encountered a gas column of around 20 meters in the primary exploration target, of which 13 meters were in sandstone reservoir rocks with moderate to good reservoir quality but the gas/water contact was not encountered.

Aside from this, gas-filled sandstone layers, totaling around 11 meters, were encountered in the lower part of the Springar Formation. The Norwegian Offshore Directorate claims there is some uncertainty regarding the size of this discovery, but a preliminary estimate indicates between 0.5- 5 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent.

In addition, a gas column of around 5 meters was discovered in the secondary exploration target in the Nise Formation, in sandstone reservoir rocks with moderate reservoir quality. However, there is uncertainty linked to the size of the discovery, but preliminary estimates show between 0.5- 6 million standard cubic meters of recoverable oil equivalent.

The well 6605/6-1 S was drilled to respective vertical and measured depths of 4,641 and 5,123 meters below sea level and was terminated in the Nise Formation in the Upper Cretaceous. The water depth at the site is 1,064 meters. The well has been permanently plugged and abandoned.

“This discovery could unlock significant potential in the area and extend the life of the Aasta Hansteen gas hub, in which OMV already has a stake,” highlighted Gašo.